The National Portrait Gallery stages the first national exhibition of the First World War centenary commemorations, opening Thursday 27 February 2014. The Great War in Portraits (27 February-15 June 2014) marks the start of a four-year public programme at the Gallery of displays and events, and workshops for young people.

The Great War in Portraits takes an international perspective. As well as iconic portraits of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Winston Churchill, the exhibition reflects the war experience of those from all social classes who served from throughout the Commonwealth.

In the central section titled ‘The Valiant and the Damned’, Portraits of Victoria Cross holders, medal-winners, heroes and aces are shown juxtaposed with depictions of those whose lives were marked in different ways: casualties, those disfigured by wounds, prisoners of war, and those shot at dawn for cowardice.

Further Events
The Gallery’s public programme of events explores the First World War from a wide range of perspectives. A literary season includes lectures by Kate Adie, Max Hastings and Jeremy Paxman discussing their respective books: Fighting on the Home Front – The Legacy of Women in World War One; Catastrophe; and Great Britain’s Great War.

More details of the exhibition and future events can be found at the National Portrait Gallery website

The National Portrait Gallery staging the first national exhibition of the First World War centenary commemorations creates a number of themes to illustrate the Great War.

Sir Jacob Epstein’s ” The Rock Drill

After the initial shock of being faced with Sir Jacob Epstein’s futuristic ” The Rock Drill”, we enter more familiar territory with the portraits of the heads of the imperial powers contrasting with press photograph of Gavrilo Princip whose assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set in motion events that culminated with the war itself.

The exhibition brings together iconic portraits and lesser known works in a multimedia environment that tries to catch the various moods of the conflict from the excitement at the beginning to the despair and futility at the end.

If you are visiting London between now and July, this relatively small exhibition is well worth a visit as it would be very unlikely that these exhibits would ever be displayed together again.

The exhibition gives us an excellent start to a year of First World War commemorations in London.

Self Portrait Isaac Rosenberg at the exhibition

Isaac Rosenberg was one of many who did not survive the war but whose poems gives some insight into the horrors of the war.

In the Trenches (Isaac Rosenberg)

I snatched two poppies
From the parapet’s ledge,
Two bright red poppies
That winked on the ledge.
Behind my ear
I stuck one through,
One blood red poppy
I gave to you.

The sandbags narrowed
And screwed out our jest,
And tore the poppy You had on your breast … Down – a shell – O! Christ,
I am choked … safe … dust blind, I
See trench floor poppies
Strewn. Smashed you lie

Harvey Nichols is a luxury department store in Knightsbridge, the origin of the company began when Benjamin Harvey opened a small linen shop on the corner od Knightsbridge and Sloane Street.

In 1835 the shop was extended, in 1841 Harvey employed James Nichols who became a manager in the company. When Harvey died in 1850, his wife went into partnership with Nichols and the company was renamed Harvey Nichols and Co.

In the late 19th century the original shops were demolished to build a new purpose built department store.

In the late 20th century Harvey Nichols became known for its luxury items and award winning restaurants. Harvey Nichols has a small amount of stores in the UK and overseas, and in 1996 launched its first stand-alone restaurant in London, the OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar, and Brassiere.

Harrods is one of the most famous department stores in the world, it is located in Brompton Road in Knightsbridge. The store occupies a 5 acre site and has over a million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments, it is the largest department store in Europe.

Harrods was founded in 1834 by Charles Henry Harrod who had run a number of businesses all over London.

In 1849 he relocated to Brompton and took over a small shop on the site of the present store. Harrod’s son Charles Digby Harrod developed the business selling medicines, perfumes, stationary, fruit and vegetables. The great success of the store enables the store to expand as adjoining buildings were acquired. However the success was dampened by a fire in 1883 when the store burnt down, however this did not deter Charles Harrod who made sure all his orders were fulfilled on time.

A new building was built on the site and the store gained a reputation for being the local shop for the rich and famous. The store was the site of the first moving staircase or escalator in London 1898 although it was not an instant success as many customers were scared to use it.

In 1959 Harrods was bought by the House of Fraser group, and in 1985 the Fayed brothers bought the store.

From 1985 to 2010 Mohamed Al Fayed worked hard to consolidate Harrods position as one of the most famous stores in the world and make good its boast that it will provide the customer will almost any service for a price.

In 2010 Harrods was sold to Qatar Holdings for an estimated 1.5 Billion pounds.

Harrods has been the victim of a bomb attack when six people died in 1983 and has a high security presence due to the luxury goods on the premises.

Up to 300,000 customers visit the store on busy days, they are served 5000 staff in 330 departments. There are 32 restaurants, personal shopping, a bank, a barbers shop, amongst numerous other services.

Marks and Spencer is a major Department Store on Oxford Street, the origins of the Marks and Spencer company was a partnership between Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1894. They open their Penny Bazaar in Leeds before opening a number of stalls in markets in the North of England.

Eventually they built a number of stores all over the United Kingdom, they built a reputation by only selling British-made goods and by its generous returns policy, giving a full refund on goods regardless of when it was purchased. Working with British Manufacturers, the company became known for quality clothes and food sold under the St Michael and St Margaret brands. Women’s lingerie was especially popular and became an iconic part of M & S.

In the 1990s, facing fierce competition it was forced to abandon its British Goods only policy and change its returns policy. It was also hampered by its refusal to accept credit cards until 2001.

Although facing a relative decline, Marks and Spencer is still a major retailer with 703 stores in the United Kingdom and 361 stores spread across more than 40 countries.

Selfridges is a large department store on Oxford Street, it is the second largest store in the UK, Harrods being the largest.

Selfridges was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge who was born in 1856 in Wisconsin, in 1879 he started work for Marshall Field and Company a famous Chicago retailer. In a rags to riches story he started as an errand boy before working his way up the ladder, he married into a wealthy Chicago family and amassed a fortune which he used to build his London store.

Using American building methods the store opened in 1909. Harry Selfridge bought over a number of American retail methods and added a few of his own, he is credited for putting the perfume counter at the front of the store which was copied by stores around the world.

He also believed shopping should be fun so used the store to highlight technologies of the day for example Louis Blériot’s monoplane of 1909 was exhibited at Selfridges, and the first public demonstration of television was by John Logie Baird from the first floor of Selfridges from 1 to 27 April 1925.

In the 20s and 30s the roof with its terraced gardens, cafes, a mini golf course was a popular meeting place. After the war these were closed down but have recently been revived.

Up to the Great Depression, Harry Selfridge retail wise could do no wrong, however in the years leading up to the Second World War he began to get in debt, partially attributed to his lavish life style. He was ousted from the Selfridges board in the 1941 and died practically penniless in Putney in 1947.

Selfridges is known for its wide range of luxury goods, numerous designer clothes, a extensive food hall and has a number of restaurants and bars.

Liberty is one of the premier department stores in London known for its luxury goods which feature its floral and graphic prints.

The stores founder Arthur Lasenby Liberty was born in Chesham, he worked for Farmer and Rogers in Regent Street for a decade before starting his own business in 1875. He started with a lease for part of a shop in Regent Street with three staff members. The shop sold ornaments and fabrics from Japan and China and was so successful in its first two years that he acquired lease for the whole shop and over time began to acquire neighbouring properties. At the end of the 19th century the store became one of the most fashionable in London, its exotic fabrics and “Eastern” furnishings and clothes began to appeal to a large buying public. It also became known for supporting the many designers who followed Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau styles. Considering its association with these styles it was unusual that the store was given a mock Tudor make over in 1920. Its unique interior of wooden balconies around central points produces a rather strange shopping experience. Equally strange is that some of the timbers on the exterior are taken from two old sailing ships, the HMS Impregnable (formerly HMS Howe) and HMS Hindustan. Liberty have always balanced contemporary and traditional designs and has worked closely with many leading designers throughout the stores history.